Day on the Lake: James Hall

Click here to continue

1 / 12

Bassmaster’s reality series usually challenges Bassmaster Elite Series pros to locate and catch bass on a small lake within a seven hours. But this month we put Bassmaster Editor James Hall in the hot seat. The 41-year-old Texas native began his career as a newspaper outdoor writer, then joined Angler’s Choice magazine as editor. Hall has been with B.A.S.S. since 1999, first as media relations manager, then as editor of Guns & Gear before joining Bassmaster. A skilled and passionate angler, Hall has a special fondness for light line bass fishing, a presentation form that, as you’re about to discover, served him well on May 3, 2012, when he took on Lake B, a small reservoir.

9:48 a.m. Hall ties up a Carolina rig, which he’ll use to probe main-lake points.

Photo: Don Wirth

7 / 12

10:11 a.m. Hall drags a Carolina rigged lizard across the point where he lost a huge bass earlier.

Photo: Don Wirth

8 / 12

11:16 a.m. Hall hangs a lunker bass on a stick worm rigged wacky-style on a jighead.

Photo: Don Wirth

9 / 12

11:16 a.m. Hall’s first keeper bass, a beautiful 5-pound, 4-ounce largemouth, hit his Yum Dinger stickworm on the side of a main-lake point.

Photo: Don Wirth

10 / 12

12:12 p.m. Hall skips a worm underneath a dock on Lake B.

Photo: Don Wirth

11 / 12

1:24 p.m. Hall swings aboard a bass that hit his finesse worm on a clay point.

Photo: Don Wirth

12 / 12

1:24 p.m. Halls third keeper, 1 pound even, hit a finesse worm on a brushy point. “This was definitely a postspawn scenario today,” Hall told Bassmaster. “I spent a lot of time in shallow water, but there was absolutely nothing happening there — the fish I caught were mostly on points and channel banks, in or close to deep water. The weird weather system passing through made them extremely tight-lipped. I never had a single bite on a reaction bait, such as a crankbait or umbrella rig; every bite came on slow-moving finesse baits fished on the bottom. The action picked up considerably after it stopped raining; I didn’t catch my first keeper until after 11 a.m., and I was getting quite a few bites right up to quitting time. There are some huge bass in this lake; that lunker that jumped off this morning would have really helped my weight total. The spring weather pattern in this region has been so crazy, I wonder if the fish aren’t as confused as I was!